Seeds of Peace

Overview of Activities

Despite the horrors and turmoil seen on TV, Seeds of Peace graduates are meeting and working together in the region to make peaceful coexistence a reality. Below you can find a description of all the Center's activities, past and present. The Seeds of Peace Center for Coexistence has been continuously holding activities in 7 main categories: Intensive Dialogue, Public Presentations, Creative Expression, Leadership Training and Empowerment, Enhancing Knowledge and Raising Awareness, Experiential Learning, and Written Expression.

Intensive Dialogue

Advanced Coexistence Program: (since 2000) Twice a month, Coexistence Groups of 12-18 Palestinian and Israeli Seeds meet for an advanced-level dialogue on all the issues pertaining to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. For more information on the 2003-2004 Advanced Coexistence Program, click here.

Special Coexistence: (2001-2002) Expressing themselves through drama, music, movement and writing, the participants of Special Coexistence underwent a deep and meaningful exploration of the emotional impact the conflict has left on each other and ways to work together both to heal and to be empowered to make a change.

Coexistence Marathon: (since 2001) The coexistence program culminates in a two-day marathon of intensive dialogue interspersed with fun activities designed to create strong bonds within members of each Coexistence Group.

Check-in Meetings: (since 2000) These meetings, held all over Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, are designed for the participants to share what they have been facing in recent months, how they have met the challenges and obstacles they confront, what discourages and inspires them. The meetings are mixed-age, giving the younger Seeds the opportunity to learn from the wider experience of the older Seeds, and allowing the older Seeds to be re-invigorated by the energy and optimism of the younger Seeds.

Video Dialogue Project: (since 2001) In the beginning of the intifada, Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza and Israeli Seeds could not meet face to face. Video dialogue became an essential tool for Israeli and Palestinian Seeds to maintain contact and dialogue with each other. Seeds exchanged personal messages to friends, gave vital information about what they face in their lives, and asked questions to each other. Over 100 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds have participated in the Video Dialogue project, and the project is now expanding to include dialogue between Egyptian and Jordanian Seeds with their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts.

Outreach

School and Community Presentations: (since 1997) Israeli and Palestinian Seeds speak in front of high school audiences and community leaders, of up to 150 people, sharing their experiences with Seeds of Peace and fielding questions from the audience. Seeds gain poise and self-confidence as they speak in front of large groups, while honing their ability to deliver their message in a way that the audience will hear with receptive interest. Presentations in Cairo and Alexandria are currently being planned by the Egyptian Seeds as well!

Education Team: (2001-2002) Trained Arab and Jewish Seeds led a self-developed curriculum addressing tolerance and racism to Jewish and Arab primary-schools.

Parent Program: (since 2003) Israeli and Palestinian parents of Seeds of Peace participants are meeting and talking on a monthly basis, feeding their support for the Seeds of Peace program and their children and enlarging the circle of people that come in contact directly with Seeds of Peace and with constructive dialogue with “the other side.”

Bring a Friend: (since 2000) Seeds of Peace has hosted dozens of “Bring a Friend” events. In these gatherings, Seeds of Peace members bring their friends to the Center to have an encounter with the other Seeds and their friends as well; thereby spreading the values of tolerance and belief in the productiveness of dialogue to their circle of close friends, and increasing the impact of the program. Over 200 Israeli and Palestinian teenagers who didn’t have the opportunity to go to the camp in Maine have experienced coexistence and dialogue with “the other side” through the Seeds of Peace Bring a Friend program.

Community Service Teams: (since 2001) Serving as role models for Jewish and Arab children, Seeds participants volunteered at an after-school center in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish city. The Seeds were thrust in a genuine position of leadership with the children as they guided them through their homework and the values of coexistence, tolerance, and mutual respect. Seeds also collected food, clothing and toys to distribute to needy Palestinian and Israeli communities. There are four groups of Jewish and Arab Seeds all over the country currently planning and executing service projects in their communities. Sesame Seeds: (since 2003) In conjunction with Sesame Workshops, which produces Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian TV components which promote tolerance and cross-cultural understanding, a group of Seeds will design with educational experts hired by Sesame Workshops a curricula they will bring into the schools, reaching primary school aged youth with those messages and with their own example.

Creative Expression

Peace of Mind: (1997-1999) Seven Israeli and Palestinian teenagers filmed, produced, and edited the only youth-produced Israeli and Palestinian documentary. Peace of Mind is still shown in festivals and symposia and participating Seeds are frequently invited to be guest speakers at such events.

The Color of Friendship: (2000-2003) Palestinian and Israeli Seeds jointly wrote a puppet-show script that embraced values of tolerance and respect. The project was executed entirely by Seeds, including puppet-building, set-painting, and developing pre and post show interactive activities.

Photography Course: (Summer, 2000) Through the lens of a camera, Palestinian and Israeli Seeds explored their own identity, the identity of each other, and the places and people that comprise the fabric of their lives.

Pieces for Peace: (Summer 2000) Led by a team of Jewish and Arab artists from the Pieces for Peace project, 50 Seeds created a painted mural and a mosaic that was born from their images of fear and non-fear in their lives.

Seeds of Peace Center Art: (since 2000) Israeli and Palestinian Seeds have turned the Center into a visual treat by creating together a colored cement mural wall outside, a mosaic tower leading up the central staircase, and a colorful “Dream Quilt” where the hopes and dreams of Palestinian and Israeli Seeds of Peace youth are stitched together.

Holiday of Holiday; Turtle “Salvador Bobbie”: (2002) As part of the Holiday of Holidays celebration in Haifa, the theme being “The Mediterranean”, Seeds created a giant colorful cement turtle in Haifa. Local Arab and Jewish children climb and play on it together, adding to the richness of the neighborhood.

Acting Out!: (since 2003) Using acting, puppetry, storytelling and music, a group of 15 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds of Peace participants are creating a performance which is imbedded with messages they see as important to the mission of Seeds of Peace. The show will be performed starting next summer for family audiences at the Center for Coexistence, and will tour to Arab and Jewish communities.

Seeds of Peace Regional Talent Shows: (summers 2000-2003) The summers of 2000 and 2003 ended with Seeds performing for each other their varied talents. Dancing, singing, acting, comedy and musical performance in Arabic, Hebrew and English filled the stage!

Leadership Training and Empowerment

Holiday of Holidays Festival: (since 2001) Seeds of Peace plays a central role in the city of Haifa’s annual multi-religion, multi-ethnic festival. Seeds youth create a booth at the festival where they positively interact with and engage hundreds of members of the Haifa community, explaining the goals and values of Seeds of Peace, face-painting scores of youth, and applying wildly popular Seeds of Peace-branded water-based tattoos.

Older Seeds in Leadership Roles: (since 2001) As participants mature, they lead the younger Seeds. Older Seeds are serving as volunteer staff members at seminars for newer Seeds, are volunteering and working at the Center, leading Advanced Coexistence groups, and are working at the summer camp as counselors.

Facilitation Training: (since 2001) Seeds who have completed both an introductory and advanced coexistence program are eligible to enroll in facilitation training. Through observation, role play, discussion of theory and practice, and supervised hands-on experience, Seeds learn skills needed to facilitate meaningful dialogue.

Graduate Program: (since 2003) The Graduates (Seeds of Peace participants who have graduated high school and, in some cases, have completed their army service or university) are the fastest growing population in the Seeds of Peace community. Each year this group will continue to expand and want programming geared towards mature young adults. We want to challenge and stimulate these young adults to test ways to become true leaders in their society, developing inter-communal tolerance in their professional, student, or volunteer lives.

Bi-national leadership training wilderness program: Based on Outward Bound course conducted in the United States, 8 to 10 Israelis and Palestinians will prepare a three-day hike together in the Judean Desert. During the their time in the desert they will be challenged with increasingly difficult tasks they need to solve as a group. At the end of each day the group will meet to discuss the day’s challenges, with specific focus on how they worked as a bi-national group.

Enhancing Knowledge and Raising Awareness

Seminars: Several times a year, Palestinian and Israeli Seeds of Peace gather together for intense discussion and exploration on a specific topic relevant to them as young peace-makers living in an area of violent conflict. The atmosphere at the seminars is similar to camp, encouraging strong personal interaction and the growth of friendships new and old. Seminar topics have included the media, human rights, leadership, religion and peace and the Golan Heights. Click here to learn about the Yahel Leadership Workshop in 1999. Click here to learn about the Yahel Leadership Workshop in 2002.

Lectures, Panels, Speakers: (since 2001) Ranging from literary greats such as Sami Mikhail and Samikh Il-Kassam to political figures such as Dan Kurtzer and General Anthony Zinni, Seeds are exposed to speakers of varied background and experience on a wide variety of topics. They actively engage in post-lecture discussions, challenging themselves and the speakers alike with articulate and intelligent questions.

"Mother Tongue” Language Workshops: (since 2001) Although living side by side, many Israelis and Palestinians cannot communicate in their native languages. Based on a strong belief that leaders for peace should know each other’s languages, and that language is a key for deeper understanding, Seeds of Peace launched a program where Israeli and Palestinian Seeds teach each other the basics of Hebrew and Arabic.

Mediation/Negotiation Workshops and Courses: (since 2002) As the leaders of the future, Graduate Seeds (past the age of 18) learn how to apply their knowledge and understanding of each other through developing the concrete skills involved in specific problem-solving.

Media Course: 15 participants in Seeds of Peace are participating in a Seeds of Peace sponsored media course. Working with Israeli and Palestinian professional journalists, the Seeds are gaining skills in writing articles, making commentary, and how to critically interpret and analyze both television and newspaper media.

Experiential Learning

Cultural Pot-Luck Open House: (since 2001) Over platefuls of delicious multi-cultural recipes, reflecting the wide variance of ethnic backgrounds the Seeds encompass, Arab and Jewish families come together at an annual cultural pot-luck dinner at the Center. Families forge trusting connections, listen to music performed by local musicians and the evening is enjoyed by all.

Trips/Home Visits: (since 1996) When Seeds have the opportunity to see and experience each other’s realities first-hand, it impacts them profoundly. Before the Intifada, Seeds from Israel and the West Bank regularly visited each other’s homes, cities, and schools and traveled to Jordan and Egypt. Until today, Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Israeli Seeds tour each other’s cities and villages and holiday meals and family visits are exchanged between Israeli Seeds and Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

Written Expression

The Olive Branch: (since 1996) Our quarterly magazine is written by Seeds from 23 different countries. Not only do Israeli and Palestinian Seeds develop as writers, they learn international perspectives on relevant issues from youth from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Cyprus all who are, like themselves, active members of Seeds of Peace. To read the current issue of The Olive Branch, click here.

SeedsNet: (since 1998) Over a daily internet bulletin, Seeds embark on discussions of every conceivable topic related to coexistence.

Egypt and Jordan Follow-Up

Since 1993, our program has included close to 350 youth from Jordan and Egypt, two pivotal countries in the balance of power in the middle east. We plan to hold bi-monthly uni-national meetings with the Egyptian and Jordanian Seeds. (12 meetings altogether) At these meetings, they will discuss how they view their role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, build concrete leadership skills, and work on outreach projects to spread the values of tolerance and coexistence into their communities.